Fatal Work Injuries in Kansas — 2023

Fatal work injuries totaled 53 in 2023 for Kansas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Kansas was similar to the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 106 in 1994 to a low of 52 in 2022. Nationwide, a total of 5,283 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2023, a 3.7-percent decrease from 5,486 in 2022, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Number of fatal occupational injuries by employee status, Kansas, 2014–23
Year	Total	Wage and salary	Self-employed
2014	73	55	18
2015	60	39	21
2016	74	53	21
2017	72	49	23
2018	61	41	20
2019	83	61	22
2020	55	44	11
2021	63	54	9
2022	52	44	8
2023	53	40	13
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Fatal event or exposure

Transportation incidents (37) were the most frequent type of fatal event in Kansas, accounting for 70 percent of all fatal work injuries in the state. Nationally the share was 37 percent. (See chart 2 and table 1.)
Falls, slips, and trips (6) accounted for 11 percent of Kansas workplace fatalities; nationally the share was 17 percent.

Clustered column chart of percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and Kansas, 2023. Accessible version is available in View Chart Data link below the chart.

View Chart Data

Chart 2. Percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and Kansas, 2023
Event	United States	Kansas
Transportation incidents	37	70
Falls, slips, trips	17	11
Exposure to harmful substances, environments	16	9
Contact incidents	15	6
All other	16	4
Note: Percents may not add to total due to rounding. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Private industry

The agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector had nine fatalities. (See table 2.) The crop production subsector accounted for five of the sector’s fatal workplace injuries.
The transportation and warehousing sector also had nine fatal work injuries. (See table 2.)

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 23. (See table 3.)
Transportation incidents resulted in 20 of the transportation and material moving fatalities.
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 15 of the major group’s fatal workplace injuries.

Worker characteristics

Wage and salary workers accounted for 75 percent of workplace fatalities in Kansas; the self-employed comprised the remaining 25 percent. (See chart 1 and table 4.) Transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers as well as self-employed workers. Nationally, wage and salary workers comprised 83 percent of fatalities.
Males accounted for 94 percent of the work-related fatalities in Kanas, compared to 91 percent nationally.
Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 45 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally. Workers 55 years and older accounted for 49 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2023, compared to 35 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
White non-Hispanics accounted for 75 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 56 percent of work-related deaths.

Revision of Classification Systems

The 2022 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the updated Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) were implemented with the release of 2023 data. As a result of these changes, comparisons between 2023 CFOI data and previous years should be made with caution. Refer to the national release technical note for more information.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, is a count of all fatalities resulting from workplace injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. For technical information and definitions for the CFOI, see the national CFOI release Technical notes, the BLS Handbook of Methods, and the CFOI definitions.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Kansas Labor Market Information Services for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that provided source documents used to identify fatal work injuries nationally. See the national CFOI release Technical Notes for details on cooperating entities.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Kansas, 2023
Event or Exposure (1)	Number	Percent (%)
All events and exposures	53	100
Transportation incidents	37	70
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	24	45
Roadway collision with other vehicle(s)	7	13
Roadway collision with other vehicle(s)-moving in opposite directions, oncoming	4	8
Roadway noncollision incident	17	32
Roadway noncollision- vehicle overturn	12	23
Nonroadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles	5	9
Falls, slips, trips	6	11
Fall to lower level	6	11
Exposure to harmful substances, environments	5	9
Contact incidents	3	6
(1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 3.02 implemented for 2023 data forward.
NOTE: Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Kansas, 2023
Industry	Number	Percentage (%)
Total	53	100
Private industry (1)	46	87
Natural resources and mining	--	--
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	9	17
Crop production	5	9
Other crop farming	5	9
All other crop farming	4	8
Support activities for agriculture and forestry	1	2
Support activities for crop production	1	2
Support activities for crop production	1	2
Farm management services	1	2
Construction	8	15
Construction	8	15
Manufacturing	3	6
Manufacturing	3	6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	--	--
Wholesale trade	4	8
Transportation and warehousing	9	17
Information	--	--
Financial activities	--	--
Professional and business services	4	8
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	4	8
Educational and health services	--	--
Leisure and hospitality	--	--
Other services (except public administration)	3	6
Other services (except public administration)	3	6
Repair and maintenance	3	6
Government (2)	7	13
Federal government	--	--
State government	--	--
Local government	3	6
(1) CFOI has used several versions of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) since 2003 to define industry. For complete information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our concepts page at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm#industry. (2) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry. Cases classified as foreign government and other government are included in all government counts, but not displayed separately.
NOTE: Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Kansas, 2023
Occupation (1)	Number	Percentage (%)
All occupations	53	100
Management occupations	7	13
Other management occupations	7	13
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	1	2
Supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers	1	2
First-line supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers	1	2
First-line supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers	1	2
Construction and extraction occupations	4	8
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	7	13
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	3	6
Production occupations	3	6
Transportation and material moving occupations	23	43
Motor vehicle operators	19	36
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	19	36
Driver/sales workers	3	6
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	15	28
Light truck drivers	1	2
Material moving workers	4	8
(1) Occupational data are based on the 2018 Standard Occupation Classification (SOC). Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.
NOTE: Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, Kansas, 2023
Demographic	Number	Percentage (%)
Total	53	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	40	75
Self-employed (2)	13	25
Sex
Male	50	94
Female	3	6
Age (3)
Under 16 years	--	--
16 to 17 years	--	--
18 to 19 years	--	--
20 to 24 years	3	6
25 to 34 years	10	19
35 to 44 years	7	13
45 to 54 years	7	13
55 to 64 years	12	23
65 years and over	14	26
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	40	75
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	--
Hispanic or Latino	8	15
American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic	--	--
Asian, non-Hispanic	--	--
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic	--	--
(1) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. Cases where employment status is unknown are included in the counts of wage and salary workers. (2) Includes self-employed workers, owners of unincorporated businesses and farms, paid and unpaid family workers, and may include some owners of incorporated businesses or members of partnerships. (3) Information may not be available for all age groups. (4) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude data for Hispanics and Latinos. Cases where ethnicity is unknown are included in counts of non-Hispanic workers.
NOTE: Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Mountain-Plains Information Office

Fatal Work Injuries in Kansas — 2023